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University in 'first of its kind' industrial design coalition

The University is one of just 13 pioneering institutions to link up with the BDI - the trade organisation for leading industrial design, service design and innovation consultancies - to form a national University Design Industry Partnership Scheme (UDIPS).

The scheme underscores the value of knowledge transfer between private sector industrial design companies and discovery-led research universities. It aims to act as a bridge between the technology and consumer-focused market applications, and between originators and industry. The UDIPS member institutions were each hand-picked to reflect a mix of disciplines, students, staff, geographical spread and a commitment to collaborative innovation.

The coalition was formalised following a national conference co-hosted by BDI and the University for the Creative Arts. The 'Propositions into Profit through Collaboration, not Competition' conference was attended by delegates from design, science, engineering and technology-based university faculties and thirty leading private sector design consultancies. This is thought to be the first national face-to-face debate ever to have taken place between universities and strategic designers in the UK.

The Dean of Nottingham Trent University's School of Art and Design, Professor Judith Mottram, said: "By working closely with the BDI we are looking for a mutually productive two-way transmission of ideas and opportunities, that will enhance the use of design as an effective tool for meeting customer needs and challenging their expectations. We see design as an agent of change and see this partnership as an effective way to maximise its leverage."

The chief executive officer for the BDI, Maxine Horn, said: "We all need to recognise that the discovery-led nature of university research will only ever be properly commercially exploited if it engages with strategic designers' unique ways of thinking, commercial knowledge and global client portfolios. Collectively, BDI members share 3,000 years of IP commercialisation experience that has generated over £1,000,000,000 in revenues for organisations of all sizes, in all markets.

"Industrial designers with multi-sector experience are also uniquely positioned to identify 'right technology, wrong market' for those who are either not specialists in certain industry sectors, or are specialists in only one industry sector. Our proven knowledge transfer processes are accredited by the Institute of Knowledge Transfer, and our designers' abilities to validate the visual business case not only assists universities, spinouts, start-ups and SMEs to communicate their potential to investors, venture capitalists and other stakeholders, but also prevents market application mistakes from occurring."

Source:www.ntu.ac.uk|

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